OOAK Table Tennis Forum

Having acquired all of the victas matsushita blades now... and seeing there were not many reviews of them out there, and even fewer in english -- I thought I'd give a little opinion on them for people interested in buying any!

First, I'll do a little physical description on what I believe are the important points players often ask about. The blade wood aesthetics are fairly close across all 4 blades and you can look at some pictures online if you’re determined to have a certain appearance. Having said that, all the blades have beautiful finishes on them. The kind where you almost regret having to slap a rubber on! I would say the original VKM has the most ‘basic’ design with less wow-factor to it than the others.

All 4 blades are 165mm x 155mm. I have these 4 blades in straight handles, and as such, my review can only concern those. The flared versions may have differences in size/shape which I’m not familiar with.

Victas Koji Matsushita Defense Blade (KMD):

Thinnest of the 4 blades at 5.0mm / 84g, and with a red/white color design for the handle.
Handle – Also the thinnest and most narrow handle, to quite a noticeable degree. It has a flatter feeling and most closely resembles the Koji Matsushita (original) blade. It is also similar to Butterfly’s Innershield ZLF handle, though the KMD is the smallest of them all.

Basic feeling:

Lots of vibration, and quite slow. Being the thinnest of the KM blades, as expected it does have the lowest speed and bounce. It has that characteristic hollow sort of “dunk-dunk” when hitting the ball you find with slow defensive blades.
Easy to control, but as one might anticipate, suffers when wanting to attack. Backhand flicks over the table are harder to perform due to the flex and give of the blade. Same with loops (slow loops are done with lots of spin, however) and smashes.

Victas Koji Matsushita Original Blade (KMO):

Slightly thicker than the KMD, coming in at 5.4mm / 87g.
Handle – Very similar to the KMD, although again, slightly thicker. This possesses more of what has become the “traditional” handle style for defensive blades. It is close to the butterfly hadraw shield in that the rectangular/flatter design is utilized. The BTY Innershield ZLF has a slightly more rounded handle in comparison to the aforementioned blades (KMO, BTY Hadraw Shield, KMD). Their size differences when in hand, are essentially negligible, apart from the minor shape changes. The KMD will still feel the smallest in comparison.

Basic feeling:

Lots of vibration, a bit stiffer than the KMD. Not overly fast. Good control, but not the best in the defensive blade category. You gain a bit more speed, sacrificing stability when chopping but allowing for more potent offensive options. A very popular blade and used by top defenders, so clearly it gets the job done! But you’ll notice most pros who use this blade are not attack oriented by and large.
The KMO and KMD are to be put into the same category. They feel drastically different from the KMOF and Koji Special.

Victas Koji Matsushita Offensive (KMOF):

Thickest of the Koji blades at 6.0mm / 93g.

Handle – Nice and thick, a sturdy grip in the hand. This handle is almost identical to the Koji Matsushita Special blade. These are both heftier than the KMD/KMO blades, and are my much preferred style. In fact, the KMOF and Matsushita Special blade are very close together overall in all categories across the board.

Basic feeling:

A good bit more zip! You can really feel the punch on this one. Having said that, the heavy vibrations still remain. Flex is lessened, which can be felt immediately. It is markedly faster than the KMD/KMO, however it has only moderately less vibrations despite the 6.0mm thickness. I think the extra speed of the blade makes you believe the vibrations are reduced, since the ball bounces off faster, while in reality they’re not all that different.
Still, the KMOF is far from a power looper’s dream. It is still lovely to chop with and control in the short game – just not quite as user-friendly as the KMD/ KMO / BTY ZLF. Although, if you’re used to faster blades then it will be an easier transition and you might even find it more controllable as a result. The KMOF can easily and expertly deliver finishing shots from loops to smashes and drives. The vibrations may give a little more feedback than most attackers like, but with a bit of practice I wouldn’t foresee any issues there.

Victas Koji Matsushita Special (KMS):

A hint thicker than the KMO, coming in at 5.6mm / 90 g. The only blade in the Koji line to use carbon layers.

Handle – again, it is almost identical to the KMOF blade. This may seem a bit strange since it is only .2mm thicker than the KMO, so why their handles were designed conspicuously different, I can’t say why. I can only say that they are! The KMS has a bit more rounder shape and overall thickness. You get a nice full feeling in the hand, whereas I thought the KMD had a flimsier, small-handed person in mind.

Basic feeling:

It is purported to be slower than the KMOF… however, I didn’t actually see much of a difference. This may be from physical perception, rather than testable truth, if that makes sense. The reason being, the carbon layers in this blade effectively remove all vibrations. You get a tiny, tiny amount of vibration with an enjoyable level of flex. The KMS does seem to feel a tad softer than the KMOF, however. I wasn’t a particular fan of the real ‘wobbly’ sort of defensive blades, and so this fits my style better. Being more solid in feel and as a result, the best blocker out of the Koji line-up. That is helpful to me, as I’m not always able to move back fast enough to chop!!
From my experience, this one probably isn’t the best choice for most who want to go the “defender” route, as they generally seem to prefer the higher vibrations and greater flex. It does grant a tremendous attacking potential, at least on par with the KMOF blade, if not better despite the supposedly slower speed. Again, I attribute this to the solid feel and dampened vibration/flex.


That about does it for the general overview. I’ll do a little attribute comparison below for a quick overview.

Speed:
1. KMOF / KMS
2. Hadraw Shield
3. KMO
4. KMD
5. Innershield ZLF

Control (this I feel is more subjective based on taste, but I’ll give my view – keeping in mind I do better with stiffer/solid equipment overall – I don’t think the slowest blades are always the easiest to control. For those that do, then just look at the speed ratings above and the slowest will be the most controlled):

1. KMS
2. Hadraw Shield
3. Innershield ZLF
4. KMD
5. KMO
6. KMOF

Flex:
1. Innershield ZLF
2. KMD
3. KMO
4. Hadraw Shield
5. KMOF
6. KMS

Vibrations:
1. Innershield ZLF
2. KMD
3. KMO
4. KMOF
5. Hadraw Shield
6. KMS

Hardness:
1. KMOF
2. KMS
3. Hadraw Shield
4. KMO
5. KMD
6. Innershield ZLF

Classical Chopping:
1. Innershield ZLF
2. Hadraw Shield
3. KMD
4. KMO
5. KMS
6. KMOF

Modern Defense:
1. KMS
2. KMOF
3. Hadraw Shield
4. KMO
5. KMD
6. Innershield ZLF

Attacking:
1. KMS
2. KMOF
3. KMO
4. Hadraw Shield
5. KMD
6. Innershield ZLF

Blocking:
1. KMS
2. KMOF
3. Hadraw Shield
4. KMO
5. KMD
6. Innershield ZLF

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SOULSPIN CUSTOM BLADES
Fh: Spinny rubber
Bh: Not so spinny rubber...

For a skillless slapper this review is quite impressive! Great job!

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There's always stuff to improve!

My blog on being a LP defender beyond 2000 USATT and the pips discrimination that comes along with that

Very good reviews SS.
Can you tell me whereabouts the carbon fleece is positioned in the KMS blade?i.e next to the core or top plies?

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Tsp Black Balsa 3.0 Tenergy 05 1.9 388d ox black

Fantastic post skilless_slapper, great summary of the blades!

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I'll post these pictures, and hopefully you can get a precise look at the plies:



http://imgur.com/s0GAeGs

http://imgur.com/GCIl28Q

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SOULSPIN CUSTOM BLADES
Fh: Spinny rubber
Bh: Not so spinny rubber...

Thanks for taking the time to photo your blade,looks like the black carbon layer is under the top ply and the feel is not too sharp?
I am looking at a Victas Quartet LFC which also has a carbon fleece under the top ply with the intention of using ox lp or 0.5 sponge on b/h,I think this can work

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Tsp Black Balsa 3.0 Tenergy 05 1.9 388d ox black

....double inverted???!!

Sent from my HTC One M9 using Tapatalk

Victas Koji Matsushita Defense Blade (KMD)
Can you compare this to the grubba pro or defplay ?

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igorponger wrote:

Day -by-day inhalation of the speed glues is not any good for health..

More of a reverse modern defender setup! I normally loop on the backhand, so that is my favored attacking side. The forehand has tackiness chop in 1.9 for my chopping side. The back side is currently Spinlord Marder 2, though I may slap on a faster one if I decide to limit my BH chopping even more so.

With BTY TC 1.9 and SL M 2 in 2.0 the weight is 183 g on the matsu special.

_________________
SOULSPIN CUSTOM BLADES
Fh: Spinny rubber
Bh: Not so spinny rubber...

I used the defplay for around 2 years, but haven't played with one in the last few. So I can't do a direct comparison, but from memory... the defplay is fairly similar. Any of those thin, heavy vibration defensive blades aren't going to feel too drastically different I think.

I have the regular BTY grubba -- that is quite a bit stiffer and more direct. It compares closer to the matsusha offensive.

_________________
SOULSPIN CUSTOM BLADES
Fh: Spinny rubber
Bh: Not so spinny rubber...

thanks mate.i think all choppers and defenders should start with the defplay as its so cheap and good.
S.S would you ever consider cutting the Koji blades down.I have cut my match blade down as it had a little too much flex.I personally now think it plays better .

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igorponger wrote:

Day -by-day inhalation of the speed glues is not any good for health..

I was thinking of that today actually. I like to do a lot of over the table flicks with the backhand, and the kojis being a bit over sized, make it slightly more cumbersome than using offensive blades. Though I wonder how much that affects playing characteristics?

_________________
SOULSPIN CUSTOM BLADES
Fh: Spinny rubber
Bh: Not so spinny rubber...

^^
my dad has just cut my second grubba pro blade down today. i chop a lot with the anti and play backhand drives.the cut down also blocks very well.I got my 3 grubba pros cheap so i imagine that if you cut one of yours down it may lose value if you sell it on.

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igorponger wrote:

Day -by-day inhalation of the speed glues is not any good for health..

But for actual changes to its playing ability -- does cutting it down change much? Less flex? A bit faster?

_________________
SOULSPIN CUSTOM BLADES
Fh: Spinny rubber
Bh: Not so spinny rubber...

Great Reviews.

Still have yet to see any come out with the flex/softness of my Matsushita pro Alpha (old butterfly blade)

I have 2 of them because i'm terrified i'll break one - lol

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TSP Curl P-1R OX

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